A silver quarter from 1964 could buy a gallon of gas at $0.25 per gallon.

Today, you'd have to melt that quarter down, getting you roughly $5 worth of silver in order to buy a gallon of gas, while the face value of the coin would buy you a thimble full of fuel.

That's right - the purchasing power of the previous metal changed so much less than the purchasing power of the face value that **the only way to recover the truth is to destroy the illusion.**

I've found that this quarter story is pretty understandable for those new to currency debasement. Extra effective if you have both a '64 quarter and a contemporary quarter on hand to feel.